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IN MEMORIAM 
Edward Yorke Macauley 



REAR ADMIRAL U. S. N. 



READ BEFORE 

THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOaETY 

SEPTSvIBER 6 J895 



By 



Persifor Frazer 



\ 



AUTHOR'S ECDITION 



From the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol. xxxiv 



>;'" 








AR ADMIRAL U<,5oN 



la Memory of 

Edward Yorke Macauley, 

U. 8. N. 

By 

Persifor Frazer. 

(Read before the American Philosophical Society, Se^itember 6, 1S95.) 

Edward Yorke Macauley,* Rear Admiral U. S. N., was born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., November 2, 1827. 

His parents were Daniel Smith McCauley, formerly Lieutenant 
U. S. N., and Sarah Yorke, who had besides this son an elder daughter, 
Louisa, and a younger, Mary. 

The birth of this latter daughter must have occuiTed shortly after 
that of Edward, and either accompanied, or was closely followed by the 
death of his mother ; for his father was remarried on October 31, 1831, 
by the Rev. James Montgomery, to his second wife, Frances Ann 
Jones, daughter of Hugh Jones, of North Carolina. They sailed for 
Tripoli the following day, November 1, 1831 (letter of D. S. Macauley 
in possession of Capt. C. N. B. M.). 

Edward's great uncle, Rear Admiral Charles Stewart, U. S. N., had 
a career in many respects unparalleled in the U. S. Navy, which can 
be but brieflj^ alluded to here. Born in Philadelphia, February 3, 
1778, of Irish parents, he entered the merchant marine as cabin boy in 
1791, and very soon commanded an Indiaman. He entered the Navy as 
Lieutenant March 9, 1798, served with the greatest distinction in the 
war with France, in that with the Barbary States, and in that with 
England in 1812; and received, like the Constitution, which he long 
commanded, the name of "Old Ironsides." He closed an active and 
honorable career of seventy-one years in the service of the United States 
on November 6, 1869. During this time he was on active duty for sixty- 
four years, and for seventeen years ranking olScer of the Navy. 

Edward's uncle, Commodore Charles Stewart McCauley (a nephew 
of Charles Stewart), was born in Philadelphia, February 3, 1793. He 
was appointed a midshipman, U. S. N., in 1809, and rose to the rank of 
Lieutenant in 1814. He served with distinction on the Constellation in 
1813, and on the Jefferson on Lake Ontario in 1814. At the breaking out 
of the Rebellion of 1861 he was ordered to the Gjosport navy yard and 
prevented a large amount of material from falling into the hands of the 
rebels. He died on May 21, 1869. 

The brother of Charles Stewart McCauley and father of the subject of 

*In his later life he adopted this manner of spelling his family name. The name of 
his relatives and his own name during the greater part of his life was written McCauley, 
though his uncle and more remote ancestors spelled it in the manner finally adopted. 



this sketch was Daniel Smith McCaulej', who entered the United States 
Nav^yas midshipman in 1814, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant, which 
commission he resigned in 1825. The dates of his birth (which was proba- 
bly in the nineties of the eighteenth century) and of his marriage to 
Sarah Yorke (which is likely to have occurred about the time of his 
resignation from the Navy) have not been discovered. 

It is probable that Sarah Yorke McCauley died about 1829. 

Owing to some reverse of fortune which was rendered more severe 
by the fact that his associates in the unfortunate enterprise did not, 
like Daniel Smith McCauley, pay their losses loj'ally, and to the sacrifice 
of their capital, his circumstances were straitened, and he applied for 
and received the appointment as U. S. Consul at Tripoli, July 29, 1881. 

There is some uncertainty as to the movements of the Consul's family 
at this time. His youngest daughter, Mrs. Mary G. Moore, a sister of 
the late Admiral, now living in England, informs the writer that she 
and her sister, Louisa, had been sent out in a sailing vessel in charge of 
the captain's wife, by their grandmother, Mrs. Yorke, to meet their 
father in Marseilles. They all traveled to Tripoli together, proceeding 
from Malta in an American man-of-war. Edward was with them, and 
the sailors made him a present of a heavy leaden cast of an Indian war- 
rior painted in colors. It was for years a favorite toy of all the 
children. During his fifth or sixth year he was in the care of his family 
at Tripoli, where his early education in languages was commenced by 
tutors, that in "mathematics, algebra (sic) and navigation," by his 
father later. At the early age of seven he was riding races with his 
sister Louisa, to the great admiration and astonishment of the Moors 
(Letter of D. S. M., January, 1836). In 1837, or when EdAvard was ten 
years old, his father considered him sufficiently advanced to "navigate " 
his yacht to Malta, as will be seen further on. By experience of this 
kind the future Rear xidmiral gradually learned practical navigation 
and evidently improved in linguistics, thus laying the foundation of the 
philological and archeological studies which were kept up till his death. 

In a letter from D. S. McCauley, dated 1832, he describes an attack 
on the bashaw's capital by the latter's brother, in which, during the 
bombardment, the U. S. consulate was several times struck by mis- 
siles. Edward, then a child of but five years, showed no fear, but was 
always among the first of those who sallied out to investigate the extent 
of the damage. Another incident of his childhood is thus related by 
his sister. " My father was down on a sandy beach outside of the town 
(Tripoli) one day superintending the building of his yacht. My 
brother (Edward), a child of six, was with him, playing about among 
the timber, etc. It happened to be a day which was kept every year as 
a Mussulman religious fanatic feast, The custom was for the Marabouts 
to race about the streets in a sort of religious frenz}^ shouting, devouring 
serpents, and cutting themselves with knives. Their violence w^as 
chiefly shown against the Christians and Jews, who dared not leave 



their houses, or even open a window on such occasions. Tlie stories of 
their atrocities were most appalling. My father, who did not believe in 
their madness, always went out as usual on this feast, merely arming 
himself with a stout stick. On this occasion, hearing the shouting and 
tearing along of the crowd, he looked up just in time to see a Marabout 
seize the child and fling him over his shoulder. My father picked up a 
large pickaxe which lay close by and made a movement to throw it at 
the Marabout, when the latter dropped the child very suddenly in a 
very sane manner. Owing to very forcible representations to the 
Pasha of Tripoli, the mummery was entirely done away witli after that 
year. My father did not believe in the madness of the fanatics." 

His early association with Arabs, Greeks, Turks and Levantines, and 
his consequent familiarity with the distinctive features of Oriental life 
at a time when the dwellers on the shores of the Mediterranean were 
less contaminated by intercourse with the travelers of all nations than 
now, had great influence on the imagination of a boy who was nat- 
urally receptive, and who was gifted with an unusual power of imita- 
tion. The graceful use of the limbs in gesticulaiion, the peculiar and diffi- 
cult art of intoning and pronouncing languages after the manner of 
those who were born to their use, must have been learned by him at this 
time. This aptitude he retained to the last day of his life. It lent a 
greatly increased spirit and interest to the most commonplace recitals. If 
he desired to express the act of putting a coin or a heavy object on a 
table, his motions and gestures were as natural as those of the best of 
prestidigitateurs. You could almost see the coin — you could almost 
swear that he was straining his muscles in lifting a heavy object, though 
these were entirely invisible to you. These gifts which the writer ob- 
served at a much later day are mentioned because such perfect art can be 
acquired only by one of high receptive capacity from good models and 
very early in life, and the period of his career we are now considering was 
probably that at which his very remarkable naturalness and grace of 
movement were learned and became habits. 

He has often spoken of the charm he felt at this period in gazing at the 
beautiful but capricious blue inland sea ; of his awe in contemplating the 
desert, and the ruins of ancient civilizations ; and of his wonder at the 
deep rooted hatred of the Arabs for the " Christian dogs !" 

He mastered the language of the country in several of its dialects and 
never forgot it. His recollections as a child of the blistering heat, the 
suffocating sirocco forcing the impalpable sand of the desert into the very 
pores of the skin, the darkened rooms, the unassuageable thirst, show that 
although this was the first climate and land he had really known, having 
left America when but an infant, his constitution was not adapted to sup- 
port its rigors as Avere those of the dwellers in the Levant. 

He related to the writer a rash attempt to ride in the desert but a single 
mile while one of the scorching south winds was blowing, which nearly 
cost him his life. 



At the time of the plague in Barbary, in 1837, the Consul and bis 
family moved to Malta, and Mrs. McCauley, with Edward and his step- 
sister, Rebecca, started for the United States, but while waiting for a fair 
wind, her heart failed her and she returned to Malta. Mrs. Moore thinks 
Edward was sent to Malta and put at the school of a Mr. Howard ; and 
when the plague reached Malta he was removed to the house of Consul 
General Sprague (or Sharpies?) in Spain (?). It is a tradition also that 
his attendance at school in Malta was about two years before his appoint- 
ment as midshipman in the U. S. Navy (which would be 1839). At the time 
of the return of his wife the Consul planned a cruise on his yacht to Sicily, 
leaving Louisa and Mary at school, but taking Edward, who showed a 
strong disposition to be a sailor, "which I do not oppose, as I see no chance 
of educating him for a better profession" (D. S. M., letterMay 9, 1837). 

They spent two or three months cruising, and returned to Malta in 
August, 1837, where they found the cholera raging. 

On account of the health of one of his children, the Consul and his 
family left Tripoli in November, 1838. In a letter from him dated January 
22, 1840, he reports having addressed a letter to the President, soliciting 
an appointment in the Navy, but without much hope of success. 

Under this same date, he adds : "Edward writes and speaks fluently 
the French and Italian, and speaks with equal fluency the Arabic and 
Turkish, and writes a little of the latter, at which he continues to study." 
He mentions also Edward's fondness for the sea, and the fact that he has 
navigated the schooner yacht to Malta and back. 

In subsequent letters the Consul asks the assistance of "Uncle Stewart" 
(Admiral Charles Stewart) and the Consul's brother (afterwards Com. 
Charles S. McCauley), in securing the appointment from the Secretary of 
the Navy. Mr. Paulding, Secretary of the Navy, has assured him his 
application will secure respectful consideration when a vacancy occurs. 

The wife and three of the children of D. S. McCauley relvirned to the 
United States, but Mary and Edward remained behind, the latter because 
the Consul's mother had advised him that Edward will be appointed to 
one of the flrst vacancies in the corps of midshipmen. 

Edward remained in Tripoli, studying to fit himself for the Navy. The 
family was in great suspense at the delay in receiving the warrant, which, 
however, finally arrived, having been dated September 9, 1841 (letter 
from D. S. McCauley, dated November 16, 1841). 

It does not appear, however, that he was assigned to duty until 1842, dur- 
ing which year his father received permission from the captain of H. M. line- 
of-battle ship, Malabar, to put Edward aboard this British war ship for the 
voyage to Gibraltar, with the understanding that he was to be transferred 
to any U. S. man-of-war which should chance to meet the Malabar, en route. 

It happened that the Malabar fell in with U. S. sloop-of-war, Fairfield, 
Capt. William F. Lynch commanding, and the young midshipman was 
sent aboard her with his luggage and his letter of appointment. Capt. 
Corbin, U. S. N., was at that time senior midshipman on the Fairfield, 



and was instructed by the commanding officer to take the new comer 
overllie ship and show him the ropes, while the officer commanding the 
Malabar's cutter, which brought the embryo midshipman aboard, was en- 
tertained by Capt. Lyncli. 

Young Corbin took the new arrival for an Englishman from liis accent 
and carriage, and was very much astonished when the boat pulled back 
to the Malabar, leaving McCauley aboard. This was the latter's first ex- 
perience of naval life. He served on board the Fairfield until 1844. 

A few months after his appointment as midshipman he was attacked by 
typhus fever, through which malady his father nursed him unassisted 
night and day to recovery : after which the whole family made a trip to 
Tajoura (opposite Aden on the African side of the straits of Bab. el Man- 
del) for rest and recuperation. Ttiey spent a month there, Edward navi- 
gating the boat in which some of them cruised all day on the lake, while 
his father was often watching with great anxiety for their return, as the 
lake was dangerous and liable to sudden squalls. Shortly afterwards the 
Consul took his son to Malta where the latter joined the Fairfield as has 
been stated. 

Edward entered the Naval School, then first established at Annapolis, 
November 12, 1845, and studied for a year, but i;pon the declaration of 
war against Mexico he was among the midshipmen who volunteered for 
service in that war. 

To his great disappointment, however, after being promised orders to 
the "first ship going to the seat of war," he was ordered to the African 
coast, where he spent two years ; returning to the Naval Academy Feb- 
ruary 2, 1848. Mrs. Moore has in her possession a MS. diary with many 
illustrations which he kept during tliis cruise. In July of that year he 
left the school, and after a short period of "waiting orders," began the 
real responsibility of a professional career on the frigate Constitution, 
which was ordered to the Mediterranean. While there his father, Daniel 
Smith McCauley, still Consul at Tripoli, was transferred to Alexandria, 
Egypt, as U. S. Consul General by orders from the U. S. Department 
of State dated August 14, 1848, the frigate Cojistftiition conveying him 
and his family with their effects to his new post. On the day of the 
arrival of the frigate at Alexandria a boy was born to the Consul General, 
who, esteeming it a happy omen that a son of his should first see the light 
on a vessel so identified with the naval history of his family, named the 
child " Constitution Stewart McCauley." 

Edward was warranted a passed midshipman to date from August 10, 
1847, on September 29. 1849. 

The transcript of his orders, obtained from the Navy Department, and in 
serted in another place, will indicate the charges given to him succesively. 
It is only possible to touch upon those which were of most importance. 

Passed midshipman McCauley was ordered to the Powhatan, Com- 
modore Perry's flag ship, which sailed from Norfolk, November 24, 1852, 
on the expedition to Japan. 



6 

The results of this expedition are sufficiently familiar to all Americans 
to render unnecessary any allusion to them in this place. McCauley was 
twenty-five years old, and this was his first expedition out of the ordinary 
routine. He had been familiar with the beauty and opulence of the sea- 
ports of that enchanting region where Asia, Africa and Europe unite ; he 
was versed in the etiquette of the most civilized nations on that delicate 
field of diplomacy where a blunder serves as a pretext and often involves 
the most serious consequences ; he was acquainted with the civiliza- 
tion of the Arab and the Persian, and their smiling aversion to the 
Caucasian ; their aims and their creeds had been McCauley 's study. 
But he was now, in the train of one of the New World's most dis- 
tinguished war chiefs, to enter another and heretofore almost entirely 
unknown world, whose religion, philosophy, manners and resources 
were as dimly understood by the remainder of the world as if they per- 
tained to the inhabitants of another planet. To such a character as 
that of the young midshipman this novelty was an inspiration, and the 
prospective journey an anticipated delight. He took with him a rare 
and beautifully bound album, the leaves of which were of various 
hues, and commenced at once to illustrate this remarkable voyage. If 
one looks through the illustrations accompanying the official account of 
this expedition it will be seen how faithful and admirable, and at the same 
time superior to these were the pictures and descriptions in this private 
illustrated journal.* 

* The title of this official quarto of 537 pp. together with the contents of several of its 
important chapters here follows : 

Naeeative 

OF 

The Expedition of an American Squadron 

TO 

The China Seas and Japan 

Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854, 
Under the Command op Commodore M. C. Perry, United States Navy, 

By Order of the Government of the United States, 

Compiled prom the Original Notes of Commodore Perry and His Officers, at His 
Request, and Under His Supervision, 

By Francis L. Hawks, D.D., LL.D., 

With Numerous Illustrations. 

Published by Order of the Congress of the United States. 

Washington : 

Beverly Tucker, Senate Printer, 

185fi. 

Chap. II. From Capes of Chesapeake to Madeira, view of island— Funchal. 

* * St. Helena, Jamestown. Hospilality of a native to a Lieutenant. 
Chap. III. Passage to "the Cape." 



McCanley's sketches, full of life and humor (exhibiting at the same 
time lack of training in the technical details of drawing and coloring, yet 
an abundance of artistic sense in the treatment of his subjects), speak to 
the observer of a happy, talented youth, free from care and confident of the 
future. He was then twenty-four years of age.* 

The humorous sketches aboard ship are excellent, and the carefully 
elaborated drawings of the canoes of State, the weapons, buildings and 
costumes of the inhabitants of Lew Chew and the coast of China are the 
best things of their kind the writer has seen, and far more graphic and 
instructive than the illustrations accompanying the before mentioned 
official account. Of a sudden these delightful sketches cease with an 
entry of June 9, 1854 (?), though the album is but half full. The reason 
is to be found in the official volume before alluded to. Strict orders were 
issued by Commodore Perry that no sketch or narrative should by 
his officers be communicated to their own families, or to the public,! and 
while an officer probably had the right to make and retain such data 
among his private papers, yet the penalty which he would pay for any 
accidental or unguarded communication of his sketches or notes, and the 
barrenness. of the pleasure of keeping them entirely to himself, in all 

Chap. IV. JIauritius, Port Louis, * * Poiut de Galle (Ceylon), * * Straits of 

Malacca, Singapore. 
Singapore, * * Hong Kong, * * Macao, * * Whampoa, * * . 
Macao, * * Shanghai, * * Napha, * * . 
Lew Chew. * * Visit to palace of Shti, * * . 
Exploration of Lew Chew. * * The Commodore visits regent at his 

palaoe, and invites the authorities on board the Susquehanna to 

dinner. 
Bonin Islands. 

Lew Chew (same picture, p. 169, Chap. VIII, and 226, Chap. XI). 
Departure from Napha for Japan, Veds, etc. 
Reply from court at Yedo, etc. 

*The following comprise the principal subjects of these colored drawings, i. e.: 
banditti (ship's negro minstrels), "Members of the Boarding School" (sailors with 
pistols, muskets, pikes and cutlasses), "The Reason Why Johnnie Came to Sea," 
"Chalks, the Ship's Cook," "Unmarried and Married," "Going and Returning on 
Twenty-four Hours' Leave," " Municipal Police of Mauritius Reception House at Bum6 
Borneo," "Manmaigne Rajah," "Chinese Fast Boat," "Hong Koner," "San Pan," 
" Dream of Johnnie," " Japanese Salute," "Jack's Provocashins," "The Barrel Over- 
coat," •' After aSix Months' Leave," " Gun Practice," " Cousin Nelly," " Return Stock," 
"A Japanese," " One of the Things not Thought of when Homeward Bound ;" Sketches 
of Loo Choo (stc) man, woman, knife, Joss, Japanese head, Japanese pipe. Mandarin 
hat partly finished, and colored croqnis of a home scene; "Mount Fu-^i," "Mount 
Chesima in Eruption," "Plan of Jeddo Bay," "Japanese," "Japanese Utensils and 
Arms," "Mandarin Boat No. 4," "Japanese Nob and Snob," "Japanese Scull," 
"Japanese House on Sail Boat ;" Coins, fire engine, hat, paper mackintosh and wooden 
pattens, Prince's barges, Japanese soldier, straw mackintosh, Japanese wrestler, 
Japanese landscape, Japanese woman on pattens, Japanese buildings, bow and arrow, 
U. S. otlicers with Japanese lantern, map of Hakodada bay, etc. 

t "All journals and private notes kept by members of the expedition Avere to be con- 
sidered as belonging to the Government until permission should be given from the Navy 
Department to publish them " (Narrative, etc., p. 100). 



Cll.\P. 


V. 


Ch.\p. 


VI. 


Chap. 


VII. 


Chap. 


VIII. 


Chap. 


X. 


Chap. 


XI. 


Chap. 


XIL 


Chap. 


Xtll. 



8 

probability discouraged McCauley from continuing his project. The re- 
porting of the expedition was to be "official," and by the chance em- 
ployment of the then little known traveler Bayard Taylor as historian, 
classic. This long expedition was crowned with success and made the 
participants in it marked and envied men for many years. Among those 
mentioned in Commodore Perry's despatches as deserving of credit for 
the intelligent performance of duty was the subject of this sketch.* 

It is proper to notice here that this experience of a new phase of Ori- 
ental life, added to the training of McCauley's youth in Egypt, naturally 
produced a marked effect upon the direction of his thought, and gave his 
studies an Oriental and philological bias. Naturally a shrewd observer 
and a good imitator, he improved every occasion to increase his repertory 
of languages and his mastery of Oriental habits of thought. But despite 
this undercurrent, scarce observed by himself, perhaps, but which was to 
become later his ruling tendency, he was now a handsome, well-cultivated 
young officer, with a high appreciation of ladies' society, and everywhere 
welcome to it. The long story of his transfers, assignments to shore 
duty, waiting orders, sailing orders, etc., are about the same as those of 
thousands of other young men, and conceal in their laconic and routine 
phraseology about the same number of heart-burnings, bad and good luck, 
and apparent injustice. 

The next important duty to which he was assigned was also for him, 
as well as for the country, epoch-making, but of a very different kind 
from the last. 

Mr. Cyrus W. Field, at the head of a devoted few enthusiasts, had 
finally succeeded in impressing the governments of Great Britain and the 
United States with the feasibility of an Atlantic submarine telegraph, 
and both governments had granted the request for aid in realizing the 
project. 

The history of the vicissitudes, failures and final success of this enter- 
prise deserves to be taught in the public schools, as an example of what 
courage and perseverance in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles 
may accomplish. The parts played in this drama, so important for the 
entire globe, by the Niagara, the Agamemnon, the O organ and the 
Valorous, is best told in a little book called The Story of the Telegraph, of 

* "The Secretary of the Navj' in his report speaks thus of the conduct of our officers 
and men of the East India squadron with the pirates in the waters of the China seas : 

" ' lu the several encounters the officers and men have conducted themselves gal- 
lantly,' and honorable mention is made of Lieuts. Pegram, Preble, Rolando, E. Y. 
McCauley and Sproston ; Asst. Engineers Stamm and Kellogg ; Acting Masters Mates 
J. P. Williams and S. R. Craig, and private Benjamin Adamson, of the marine corps, who 
was dangerously wounded. 

" Lieuts. Henry Rolando and J. G. Sproston are from Baltimore, and Lieut. McCauley is 
from this city, though his father was for some time Consul General from the United 
States to Egypt" (Philadelphia daily paper of (?) 1S56). 

(This reference is to the attack of the Powhatan on the Chinese pirates in the China 
seas in 1855.) 



9 

■which the title and the conteuts of some of the principal chapters will be 
found in the footnote below.* 

Additional interest in this connection is found in a small 8vo of eighty- 
pages, entitled, Froceedings at the Banquet ?ield in Honor of Cyrus W. 
Field, Esq., of New York, in Willis' Rooms, London, on Wednesday, 1st 
of July, 1868. Revised by the Speakers. London : Metchim & Son, 
Printers, 20 Parliament Street S. W., and 32 Clements Lane E. C, 1868," 
in which occur the names of over four hundred of the most distinguished 
diplomats, noblemen, men of science and of affairs, barristers and repre- 
sentatives of the army and navy of England and France, presided over by 
the Duke of Argyle, R. T. The proceedings show the realization by the 
participants of the immense importance of the success of the Atlantic 
cable, and bear testimony in a very remarkable manner to the cordiality 
of Englishmen of the better class towards the United States ; and in a 
more remarkable degree still to the spirit of fairness and justice which we 
are too apt to deny to our transatlantic cousins. f The incident is men- 
tioned merely to call attention to these significant words used by the 
Chairman, the Duke of Argyle, in giving the toast, "The Military and 
Naval Service of the Tw^o Countries, Great Britain and America" (sic). 

If variety in his experiences makes a highly cultivated man, certainly 
there is no need to look far for the cause of this characteristic in the late 
Rear Admiral Macauley. With a youth spent at the foot of the pyramids, 
and a young manhood passed in opening to the world the most advanced 
if hitherto unknown Oriental culture, he was now to experience what 
the acme of Western civilization could accomplish in "annihilating time 
and space." 

From the contemplation of the mysterious shrines which even yet lock 
up from our ken volumes of the contemplative wisdom of the far past, he 
was to witness the instantaneous exchange of thought between men on 

* The Storij of the Telegraph. The Story of the Telegraph and a History of the Great 
Atlantic Cables. A Complete Record of the Inception, Progress and Final Success of that 
Undertaking. A General History of Land and Oceanic Telegraphs. Descriptions of 
Telegraphic Apparatus and Biographical Sketches of the Principal Persons Connected 
with the Great Work. By Charles F. Briggs and Augustus Maverick. Abundantly and 
Beautifully Illustrated. New York ; Rudd & Carleton, 310 Broadway, MDCCCLVIII. 
8vo,255pp. Chap, iii, "Origin of the Atlantic Telegraph ;" Chap, iv, " Construction and 
Experiments;" Chap, v, "The First Expedition— Summer of 1857 ;" Chap, vi, "The 
Expedition of 1858 ;" Chap, vii, " The Third and Successful Attempt, Trinity Bay, 
Thursday, etc., August 5, 1858." " The Niagara and Oorgon arrived at Trinity Bay, yes- 
terday. Atlantic cable perfect in working lauded. The Agamemnon and Valorous spliced 
in mid-ocean with Niagara, and each proceeded her way, the first two for Valentia and 
the last to Trinity." 

t" My lords and gentlemen, I hope the American people will believe, and I think they 
do believe that all Englishmen almost deplore the causes which ever led the two coun- 
tries into collision. They deplore them the more as I think the conviction is now 
fastened on the minds of all of us that in these contests from beginning to end, England was 
in the urong. (Cheers.) She was wrong in the quarrels with the colonists, and was hardly 
ever in the right in regard to belligerent warfare," etc. The last allusion is to the conduct of 
England toward the U. S. during the late war of secession. (P. F. ) 



10 

board of a ship rolling in the seas of the wide Atlantic and men in a little 
station on the coast of Ireland ; between the respective officers of two 
vessels on the ocean which were a thousand miles apart and constantly 
increasing that distance. Western objective science and triumph over 
matter was, in short, to build a superstructure to Eastern subjective 
speculation and mastery of miud. 

What may have been the sensations through which this observant 
young officer passed we can only imagine, but it is most probable that the 
admiration for true science, which was noticeable in him, dates from this 
time. Yet by one of those singular turns, which it is impossible to account 
for, the science which from this time began to interest Macauley was not 
physics, as one would naturally suppose, but geology. 

If there be a class of men wjio are debarred by their profession from 
progress in this science, it would seem to be the seafaring class ; for, 
although sailors visit various parts of the world where instructive geo- 
logical phenomena are to be observed, they can seldom absent themselves 
from the vessels sufficiently long to visit these localities, while the harbors 
and seaports in which they might find time to observe are usually stamped 
indelibly with the modern seal of the earth's waters. Having performed 
his duties to the satisfaction of his superior officer, and having received 
their official commendation for his part in the final success of the Atlantic 
cable, which was successfully landed at Trinity Bay, August 5, 1858, 
Macauley received orders detaching him, with three months' leave, August 
19, 1858. 

These three months of leave passed all too soon if one considers that ou 
January 28, of the same year, he had been married to one of the most 
beautiful women who ever graced the ballrooms of Philadelpliia, Miss 
Josephine Mcllvaine Berkeley (daughter of Dr. Carter Nclsrn Berkeley, 
of "Edgewood," Hanover county, Va., and Ellen Reed Mcllvaine, who 
was the daughter of Joseph Reed Mcllvaine, of Burlington, N. J.). 

There is a pathos in the mere record of the date of this marriage on 
January 28, alongside of that of the orders of the Navy Department to 
join the Niagara, February 1, of the same year. 

The last cruise had used him up, and he was much worried at the condi- 
tion of his health. Through the influence of the Hon. Henry M. Rice, 
Senator from Minnesota, a year's sick leave was granted him. He went 
with his bride to St. Paul, where they lived in Mr. Rice's house on Summit 
avenue. 

Within a few months this leave was cut short on September 20, 1858, by 
orders to the naval observatory at Washington, which were followed by 
waiting orders on the following Washington's birthday (February 33, 
1859), and on August 1, 1859, to the Supply. These last orders were too 
much for the young husband. He resigned from the service ; his resig- 
nation being accepted August 19, 1859. 

After considering various plans for the future, Macauley went into 



11 

business in St. Pau'', Minn., where the first call to arms to suppress the 
rebellion aroused him. 

He immediately tendered his services to the Government on the outbreak 
of the Civil War, yet in the official record by the Navy Department of 
Admiral Macauley's services the first entry after the date of his accepted 
resignation is "Commissioned Lt. Comd'r., April 18, 1863." 

It transpires from the writer's correspondence with the Navy Depart- 
ment that Macauley received orders from the Department to report to 
Capt. DuPont for duty on May 11, 1861, and by the latter was ordered to 
the U. S. steamer Flag, which was engaged in blockade duty on the coasts 
of Florida. He remained with her during parts of 1861 and 1863, 
and commanded the U. S. steamer Fort Ilenry, of the East Gulf Squadron, 
in parts of 1862 and 1863. 

On April IS, 1863, he was ordered to the command of the Tioga, and 
while serving in her took part in the boat attack on Bay port, Fla. 

His services on these small vessels, where he was exposed to the scourge 
of yellow fever, in addition to the ordinary vicissitudes of naval warfare, 
were most valuable, but as in the cases of so many others of the Navy 
these services were either never recorded, or the record has never been 
published. Yet had it not been for the vigilance, the self-sacrifice and 
courage of the commanders of these small vessels, the more brilliant ex- 
ploits of the larger ones would have been in vain. 

On September 14, 1864, he received orders to the Mississippi Squadron, 
then temporarily under the command of Capt. Pennock, after the transfer 
of Admiral Porter to the Atlantic coast and before the arrival of Admiral 
Lee to replace him, and was assigned by the acting Admiral to the com- 
mand of the Fifth Division of the Mississippi Squadron, embracing that 
river from Grand Gulf to a short distance below Natchez. The writer 
followed the then Lieutenant Commander to Mound City, 111., from Phil- 
adelphia, and later accompanied him thence to Natchez, serving under 
his command to the end of the war. 

This territory had been conquered by the brilliant victories of the 
Ellets, Admirals Farragut, Foote and Porter, and of the army, but it was 
filled with wealthy and influential rebels who were especially numerous 
in all the large towns ; and it was subjected to continual raids from flying 
rebel squadrons of all arms, which held up the passing transports, raided 
the military posts, and even inflicted considerable damage on the light 
armored gunboats when in the course of their patrol duty the latter ap- 
proached too near the site of. a masked battery. In view of the great im- 
portance to the U. S. Government of the maintenance of this river as a 
means of transporting material and reinforcements to the trans-Ap- 
palachian armies and the Mississippi and Gulf Squadrons a great deal of 
responsibility rested upon the Navy officers, and the difficulty of their 
task was much increased by the plots of those citizens who were claiming 
and receiving their protection. In order to understand the situation 



12 

it must be borne in mind that at this date, 1864-1865, the people of the 
North, and for that matter tlie sensible people everywhere North and 
South, were convinced that the triumph of the lawful Government of 
the United States was merely a question of time. The loyal adherents 
of the Government had grown so accustomed to the receipt of cheering 
news from the seat of war every time they sat doAvn to breakfast, that a 
serious defeat would have produced more discouragement then than in the 
early years of the great war, before either public or combatants had been 
educated to the point of knowing just what coiild be expected of a great 
Army and Navy judiciously handled. It was a necessary policy, there- 
fore, to hold on to every inch of ground which had been gained, and to 
risk less and less for further acquisitions as the extent of acquired territory 
increased. 

Strenuous and in part honest eflForts had been made and were con- 
tinually being repeated to end the war by negotiations with rebel com- 
missioners. The price of gold was fabulously high, though destined to go 
much higher ; foreign nations were impatient of maintaining their attitudes 
of neutrality while submitting to the inconvenience of the loss of their 
American markets and the scarcity of cotton, and just this demand for 
cotton made the course of an ofHcer of the U. S. Navy in command of a 
part of a river which was the natural outlet of this commodity, very 
difficult and delicate. 

"Influence" was occasionally crushing those who carried out their 
official instructions too zealously, for "influence" w'as invoked by 
w^ealthy cotton brokers, both abroad and in the Northern States. A vast 
quantity of cotton worth from $400 to $800 a bale, was known to be 
stored on the plantations watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi, 
As the most important of the material resources of the enemy, it was 
invariably stored where its transportation by United States troops would 
be most difficult, and where it could be most easily destroyed when its 
defense was impossible. Hence the general orders of the United States 
forces were to burn it wherever found. 

There was always a pretext for suspicion of collusion with the U. 8. 
officer in command of the district when cotton was raided and success- 
fully carried from a rebel plantation to a Northern market. The unfortu- 
nate officer was often placed in the most embarrassing position. As sub- 
sequently appeared, agents, especially of the fair sex, were regularly em- 
ployed by the financial schemers to negotiate with the rebel cotton owners, 
and to hoodwink the Navy officers with the object of getting into com- 
mercial circulation as much cotton as possible to the advantage of all 
parties concerned, except the Navy man whom of course the actors in 
these transactions sought to inculpate when they were baffled in their un- 
dertakings. 

The "influence" which they could bring to bear, added to their un- 
questioned charms of manner, made the lady solicitors very redoubtable. 



13 

In fact they succeetled in injuring many reputations, and witliout doubt 
set free a large amount of cotton. Any officer of whom it can be said as 
it can of tlie late Admiral Macauley that these difficulties were met and 
mastered by him, can justly claim to be an incorruptible man and a skill- 
ful diplomat. This was the real crux for the commander of a division 
fleet. Compared with this the more legitimate occupations of patroliog the 
river, blockading the bayous, and preventing the passage of information- 
or material across the Mississippi within his jurisdiction (which Macauley 
and the other commanders so successfully accomplished that Jefferson 
Davis and his cabinet officers finally gave up the hope of being able to 
cross into Texas), were but technical naval details offering no serious diffi- 
culties. 

On August 2, 1865, the war of the Rebellion having been ended by the 
triumph of the national arms, the then Lieut. Commander was detached 
from the Mississippi Squadron and placed on waiting orders. Thence- 
forward his connection with the naval service, though useful, as that of 
so experienced an officer must needs have been, shares the interest of his 
friends with his Oriental studies, which were pursued in the desultory 
manner necessary for an officer still on the active list. He was made 
Commander in 1866 ; Fleet Captain and Chief of Staff North Atlantic 
Squadron, 1867 ; Captain, 1872 ; Commodore, 1881, and Rear Admiral, 
1885. One incident should be mentioned in connection with his command 
of the Pacific Station in this year, the last he held. His devoted wife, 
with whom he had looked forward to passing the remainder of his days 
after the termination of this cruise in tranquility and peace, died suddenly 
while returning from a visit to her son, then as now a medical officer of 
the U. S. Army, stationed in the far West. The telegram from the De- 
partment giving the Admiral leave to return home spared him the shock of 
the bald announcement of his loss, but owing to the inefficiency of the 
telegraph service between Panama and Philadelphia he did not learn the 
nature of the disaster which had befallen him until he arrived at the 
house of a relative in Philadelphia and inquired for his wife, who had 
long before been borne to tlie grave. He applied to be retired, and the 
request was granted. 

In spite of a blow which might well have been sufficient to prostrate a 
weaker man, tlie Admiral at once commenced the construction of an ideal 
home for his two daughters and his youngest son. While the public 
gaze may not follow him within its privacy, it is not inconsistent with the 
extreme delicacy and respect which the writer feels for this home, to say 
that it presented a rare example of mutual trust and interest, of cheerful- 
ness and affection. 

In 1881, he was elected to membership in this Society, and signalized his 
accession by a paper in its Proceedings (xx, 1), entitled, "Manual of 
Egyptology." 

On October 20, 1883, he completed and presented for the Transactions 
the beautiful MS. of his dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics, which was 



14 

afterwards published in Vol. xvi, New Series, of the Transactions of this 
Society.* 

The cartoons are made with great accuracy and uniformity, and in fact 
tlie production of such a work by process printing could only have been 
possible where great industry and artistic skill together with Oriental 
knowledge were found conjoined in one individual. In European capitals 
much of the drudgery of this kind of work is saved by the employment of 
fonts of hieroglyphic type, but up to the time of the appearance of this 
book there was not a single such font in the United States. 

He had projected other similar works of value, some of which were 
partly commenced, others merely outlined at the time of his death. 

He added thus late in life to liis many linguistic conquests that of Vol- 
apuk, which many believed would ultimately become the universal lan- 
guage. He wrote, read and spoke this now neglected creation with 
facility. 

In 1892. Hobart College honored him with the degree of LL.D., Jionoris 
causa. 

He Avas a man of robust health and a strong believer in the advantage 

* The title page and preface here follow : 

Transactions 

OF THE 

American Philosophical Society. 



Article I. 

A Dictionary of the Egyptian Language. 

By Edward Y. McCauley, U. S. N. 

Read October 20, 1882. 



Preface. 



In 1880, 1 made a manuscript copy of Dr. Bnch's Egyptian Dictio7iary {Vol. v, of Bunsen's 
Egypt). As it was inadequate for the present requirement I added to it a list of words 
compiled from translations, lately made, of papyrus texts and monumental inscription*, 
with theaidof Chabas' Melanges Egyptologiqucs, and the works of Grebaut, Deveria, Good- 
win, etc. Finally, I closely compared the work with Pierret's Vocabulaire, the latest 
issue of the kind, resulting in the dictiouary now laid before the Society. 

I claim for it that it contains all the words that could be obtained from the sources I 
have just mentioned, and probably all that have been defined by Egyptologists up to the 
present time. 

These words, and their variants, are placed under their proper initial symbols or 
characters, which, being carefully indexed, even the uninitiated may work out the 
meaniug of a hieroglyphical text. 

I have not placed any geographical or theological names in the book. Our constantly 
increasing information on the geography and religion of ancient Egypt, necessitating 
constant correction, I thought it better to restrict myself to the compilation of a book 
that would be of use in translating ordinary lingual text. 

Philadelphia, December, 1882. E. Y. McCauley. 



15 

of manly outdoor exercise and sports. One of liis greatest delights to 
within a year of his death was to join a favorite relative who was identi- 
fied with hunting in all its forms, in expeditions to Barnegat Bay in the 
duck-sliooting season, where he would rise at four and lie in a sink boat 
through the bitter cold of our bleak November mornings waiting for a 
flock of ducks to arrive. So far from enfeebling him this seemed to 
stimulate his blood, and he would return browned and healthy from these 
expeditions. 

Tn addition to singularly handsome features and a well proportioned 
form, which age seemed not to affect, he maintained an erect and graceful 
carriage to the very last day that he could stand. 

To those accomplishments, such as fencing, sparring and dancing, natu- 
ral to a military man who had seen much' of the best of the world's society, 
he joined otliers less frequently observed in a Navy officer, such as riding 
on horseback and playing billiards. Few persons made more graceful 
cavaliers than Admiral Macauley, and the im^jossibilily of practice at 
billiards on the element which was that of his chosen profession did not 
prevent the accuracy of his strokes when on shore. 

Though severe in the execution of duty on the quarter deck, or on the 
court-martial, he was considerate of the weaknesses of human nature and 
generous when these had been exhibited in offenses to himself. Many a 
subaltern officer and enlisted man was spared by Admiral Macauley 
from extreme punishment and lasting dijigrace, and that, too, occasionally 
in the face of persistent ingratitude. This is all the more praiseworthy in 
consideration of the fact that Mucauley himself was passionate and sensi- 
tive, as are most artistic natures ; and proud, as are most upright ones. 
It was often a hard struggle in a mind like his between impulse and jus- 
lice, nor was it always that exactly the right course to pursue was fuund on 
the moment. But justice would assert herself after an adjournment for 
time to reflect, and no man's honest cause was in danger from arbitration 
by Admiral Macauley.* 

* The official record of Rear Admiral Macauley is as follows : 

Appointed midshipman September 9, 1811; ordered to Mediterranean squadron Feb- 
ruary 17, 1842 ; warranted December 30, 1843 ; sent to Naval School November 12, 1845 ; 
transferred from the Delaware to the Cumberland ; ordered to the United States ; February 
2, 1848, returned to the Naval School ; detached on waiting orders July 6, 1848 ; ordered 
to receiving ship at Philadelphia September 16, 1848 ; ordered to the Constiti'.tlon, war- 
ranted passed midshipman August 10, 1847 ; detached on sick leave October 3, IS.iO ; 
joined the Independaice October 1, 1851 ; detached and granted three months' leave June 
30, l.Sc2 ; ordered to the Saranac July 3 ', 1852 ; ordered to the Powhatan August l:->, 1852 ; 
promoted to Lieutenant September 14, 1855; warranted Master October 2i, 1855; com- 
missioned Lieutenant October 25, 1S55 ; detached on three months' leave February IS, 
1856 ; ordered to receiving ship at Philadelphia May 27, 1856 ; recommissioned August 25, 

1856 ; ordered to the JSiagara March 21, 1857 ; detached on waiting orders November 27, 

1857 ; ordered to the Niagara February 1, 1858 ; letached on three months' leave August 
19, 185S ; ordered to the Observatory September 20, 1858 ; detached on waiting orders Feb- 
ruary 22, 1859; ordered .to the Supply August 4, 185".); resiguation accepted August 19, 
1859. Commissioned Lieut. -Commander July 14, 1864 ; ordered to Navy Yard, Ports- 
mouth, N H., June 19, 1864 ; detached on waiting orders August 17, 1864 ; ordered to the 



16 

Mississippi squadron September, 1861 ; detached on waiting orders August 2, 1865 ; special 
duty at Phiiladelptiia August 10, 1865 ; promoted Commander September 27, 1866 ; ordered 
to examination for promotion November 27, 1866 ; Fleet Captain and Cliief-of-Staff 
North Atlantic squadron February 15, 1867 ; commissioned March 14, 1867 ; detached on 
waiting orders January 4, 1868; ordered to Navy Yard, Portsmoutli, N. H., August 26, 
1868; ordered to the Naval Academy November 7, 1870 ; recommissioned from July 25, 
1866, June 2, 1872 ; ordered to the Navy Yard at Philadelphia, August 17, 1872 ; promoted 
Captain September 3, 1872 ; ordered to examination for promotion September 11, 1872 ; 
ordered to be ready for sea October 16, 1872 ; ordered to command of the Hartford 
October 22, 1872 ; commissioned February 10, 1873 ; ordered to command the Lackawanna 
June 4, 1873 ; detached on waiting orders June 22, 1880 ; ordered to examination for promo- 
tion June 30, 1881 ; promoted Commodore August 7, 1881 ; ordered to special duty Bureau 
of Navigation September 29, 1881 : commissioned November 3, 1881 ; ordered to Hartford 
October 16, 1883 ; on waiting orders November 17, 1883 ; ordered to League Island Navy 
Yard November 17, 1884 ; ordered to examination for promotion February 24, 1885 ; 
ordered to the command of the Pacific Station ; turned over the Pacific Station November 
6, 1886 ; placed on the retired list January 25, 1887 ; given permission to leave the United 
States May 23, 1887. 



17 



Eduuat^d Yot^ke IVIacaaley, 

I^EHR RDpniRHLi U. S. H' 



Ku lobina mcmorg a toreath of bag, 
iit» comraHe auti commautier, X \uoulti tfntr 

^nti ou gour tomb this heartfelt offering lag 
^titiressetj to those gou lotjeK anu left tehinK. 

jFor those alone toho feneto the tiaflg flloto 
as^hfch lo\je antr conKtrenee, the mute earess, 

ffiag chim'nss, anti a merrg laugh testo^u 
(Can share the feelings luhich these lines oppress. 

^our life toas totttie to gour flag. jFull toell 
^ou ft'lletn (ts trutfes an^ tiesertietJ gour fame. 

Xt toere sufKctent in gour praise to tell 
3?ou atitieti honor to an honored name. 

^0 ealumnfes habe eber trare^ besmirch 
JThat trust tohich gou hatje hein ; nor et)er can. 

3?our leisure gou tie\)otetJ to research, 
^n^ tiieti as gou hati litieli— a gentleman. 

S?our name, tohen ft fs spoUen tuhere toe met, 
Us charged tm'th memories of hfm toe miss, 

^nn sountis the chorti of friendship anti regret, 
Kf feetjlg tohen compared to mootis Iffee this. 

iFaretoell, Otommantier ! ro each other toe 
^re shatrotos, tohfle a memorg are gou. 

212^ho fenotos tohtch most is real? ajut happg he 
ag^ho leatjcs as mang mourners ann as true. 

p. F. 



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